The Journey to Forever
by Phoenix0725
Summary: A collection of drabbles, written for various memes on Tumblr. It's marked as complete, but will be updated every once in a while. Pairings will differ.
1. AceLu: Brand New Step-Sibling

_**And even more drabbles... As always, everything was beta'ed by lunarshores.**_

_**AceLu**_

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><p>When my mother first met Dragon, I thought that their relationship wouldn't last long. I thought that he'd break up with her when he found out that she has a 10-year-old son, like all of the others before him. Yeah, well, needless to say it didn't turn out that way. In fact, he <em>also<em> admitted to having a child. I think that his son's name was Luffy. I didn't meet the kid until after they got engaged, though.

Luffy was always happy. And for some reason, it really pissed me off. The stupid kid kept getting himself into all sorts of trouble trying to make me his friend. His _brother_. I didn't want a brother. Dragon, I could tolerate. He made Mom happy. But this brat? Because of him, Mom had less time for me. When I told him to piss off (I had quite a mouth on me, even as a 10-year-old), he _never_ listened to me. He would either pretend that he didn't hear me, or he would start talking about something weird.

And then, mom and Dragon got married. He and his son moved into our house, and Mom had _even_ less time for me. I often found myself taking a walk alone in a nearby park and watching other kids play with their parents.

_Why couldn't I have a normal, functional family?_

When I came back home that day, I didn't talk to anyone. I took off my shoes and jacket and went straight to my room. If Mom noticed my bad mood, she didn't say anything.

Except for school, I didn't really leave my room for the next few days. I knew Mom was worried, but I didn't care. She tried to get me to come out a few times, but I locked the door and put a pillow over my head as I lied in my bed.

One day, though, when I came back from school, I found Luffy sitting on my bed. I threw my backpack into the corner of the room and ignored him. It went on like this for about half an hour, me just sitting at my desk, and him watching me.

"What?" I finally ground out, glaring at him.

"Why do you stay here every day?" Luffy asked. I frowned in annoyance.

"What's it to you?" I countered. Luffy turned his head to look at his feet.

"Because you seem lonely, and I'm lonely. I don't have any friends here. All I have is Mom and Dad, but it's not the same. You used to be there, but now you're not, and I'm all alone. I don't want to be alone." My frown slowly disappeared as he talked.

"Why would you want _me_ to be there?" I asked hesitantly. I had to admit, I was curious. No one had ever said anything like that to me before. I had no friends at school. Mom had said not to worry about it, that it wasn't my fault. Apparently, my biological father had been a criminal, and other parents were afraid to let their children play with me. The prospect of having a friend peaked my interest.

"Because you're my brother." Funny how he decided that, and I had no say in it. Not step-brother. Just brother. I sighed but cracked a smile. Maybe, just maybe, I could do something to chase the loneliness away for both of us, at least for a little while.

"Then how about we go get some ice cream?" Luffy looked up at me with those big, brown eyes of his, full of surprise and disbelief.

"R-really?" I nodded. I almost jumped in surprise when I felt his arms wrap around me in a hug. I had no idea whether or not I should hug him back, so I just sat there awkwardly.

"You're the best, Ace!" Luffy's grin was contagious, and I couldn't help but return it.

I had no idea just what I was signing myself up for with that simple offer. Having a little brother like Luffy isn't ever easy. But I don't regret that day for anything.


	2. AceLu: Ghosts in Love

**_Beta'ed by lunarshores._**

**_AceLu_**

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><p>He woke up to the all-consuming darkness. It was weird at first- he couldn't see <em>anything<em>. After a few seconds of doing nothing but panicking, Ace tried to thrust his hands forward. They met resistance, so Ace tried hitting whatever was in front of him.

And it was the weirdest thing- one of his hands went through, but the second one didn't. Confused, but also slightly encouraged by this, he tried to stand up, only to bang his forehead against the thing before him.

He could have sworn that he heard someone laughing. But that was impossible...right?

His heart stopped beating when a head suddenly appeared above him. His mind caught on the question of how he could see when there was no light despite the fact that he should be freaking out since he was trapped in a box with no light with a disembodied glowing head.

"That's not how you do it, silly!" The boy's- because he was pretty sure it was a boy- pale and slightly translucent skin seemed to glow in the darkness, the small amount of light allowing Ace to see where he was.

And he was not happy with what he saw. He was stuck in something that had the shape of a box. Something made out of wood. He sucked in a sharp breath as he realized he was stuck in a coffin, probably underground. That, and the fact that the boy's head was coming out of the wood.

"What. The. _FUCK_?!" Ace would have scrambled away, but seeing as he was had almost no room to maneuver as he was trapped in what was basically a box, he chose to stay in place.

"Shishishi! If you want to get out, concentrate on not being there, and float up. Just imagine it happening!" Ace looked at the boy as if he'd grown a second head. "Come on, it's not that hard!" Although he was more than slightly dubious, Ace closed his eyes and did what he was told. When he opened them again, he was above ground, standing on soft grass. He took a step forward and turned around. He eyes widened as they took in the sight of the tombstone in front of him.

_**Portgas D Ace**_

_**Absent from the body, Present with the Lord.**_

Well, if what he was beginning to suspect thought was true, and he _had _become a ghost (the rational part of his mind still firmly refused to believe it), then the first part of that inscription was _very_ correct.

He turned his eyes to look at the boy standing next to him.

"I'm a ghost?" he blurted out. The boy turned his eyes away from the tombstone and toward him. It was only now that Ace took notice of his appearance. He had black hair that was slightly disheveled, and big brown eyes filled to the brim with innocence and joy. There was a scar on his left cheekbone.

"Yep. Cool, right?" Ace just kept staring at him, eyes incredibly wide and mouth open.

The rational part of his mind was telling him that this was a dream.

"Close your mouth or you'll catch flies." Ace quickly did as he was told, before sitting down and going back to staring at his grave. The stranger sat down beside him.

"I'm Luffy. Nice to meet you, Ace!"

Ace ignored the rational part of his mind.

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><p>Days passed while Luffy tried to get him to leave the cemetery. He kept refusing, opting instead to just sit there and observe his family as they came to visit his grave. <em>Eventually<em>, he got up to go wander around with Luffy. They had some fun scaring kids who broke into abandoned houses.

Then, Luffy confessing and they shared their first kiss.

Who knew you could find love as a _ghost_?

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><p>A while ago, Luffy told him that once whatever was holding a ghost back from passing on was gone, they would have to leave.<p>

In Luffy's case, it came too soon.

Luffy came to him in the middle of the night, tears slipping from his eyes and over his cheeks, and telling him that he had to move on. They shared their last kiss, before Luffy faded away into nothingness. He had felt an immense amount of pain when he lost Luffy. Hell, he still felt it to this day. It never went away, not really.

As he sat there, watching the last member of his family die in the hospital and feeling himself fading away, all he could feel was relief. Relief, because maybe, just maybe he would be able to see all of his loved ones again when he passed on. And they would be able to see him.

And hopefully, he would see Luffy again.

Marco closed his eyes and took his last breath.

Watching himself fade bit by bit, Ace couldn't help but remember the horror he felt when he saw Luffy disappear in front of him. At the same time, Ace felt a rush of relief that the pain of his lonely existence would finally be over one way or the other and smiled wistfully as he vanished completely.

He could have sworn that he heard Luffy's familiar laugh ghosting through the hospital halls, so quietly he was sure it must be his imagination, as he closed his eyes for what might possibly be the last time.


	3. LuNa: Stripper

_**So I've gone back to doing those drabble requests I got on Tumblr months ago :D**_

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><p>Luffy didn't understand what it was that Sanji saw in places like these- half-naked women and bars and alcohol and more half-naked women.<p>

You know what, he took that back. He knew _exactly_ what it was that Sanji liked about stripper clubs. Luffy was bored, though. There was nothing to _do_. His friends had left him alone at some point, opting instead to look around. He was bored out of his mind.

"Stupid Sanji. Stupid birthday party," he muttered, taking a seat at the bar. "Hey! Bartender guy! Do you have any meat?!"

"What's this place look like to you, brat? A five-star restaurant? Now scram!" Luffy sighed.

"Nothing to do, nothing to eat, no one to talk to." He dropped his head onto the counter, pouting as his straw hat floated off his head at the sudden movement. Before it could touch the floor, however, it was caught by someone and handed back to him. Luffy accepted it eagerly and looked up.

The person standing before him was a woman. She had long orange hair, amber eyes, and looked to be somewhere around twenty.

"Thanks!" he grinned. The woman smiled in return.

"Mind if I sit here?" she asked, motioning towards the stool beside him.

"Sure," he replied. She took a seat and waved the bartender over with her hand.

"Get me some lemonade," she demanded when he came around.

"What, drinking on the job?" The woman's only response was to raise an eyebrow in his direction and level him with a cold glance. "Fine, fine," the bartender huffed. "One ice-cold lemonade, coming right up." When she got her drink, the woman turned to face Luffy once more.

"I'm Nami," she said, holding out her hand.

"Luffy," he replied, shaking her hand. Nami was a cool name.

"So… Luffy, what brings you to a place like this? You don't really look as though you belong here," she asked, clearly curious. Luffy shrugged his shoulders and pouted.

"It's Sanji's birthday. He brought me and my friends here. I'm so _bored_," he whined, making Nami chuckle.

"I take it that you don't like places like this," she asked. Luffy shook his head, pouting.

"There's nothing to _do _here." Nami moved closer towards him, leaning her head on the palm of her hand, elbow resting on the counter.

"Oh, I think there's plenty to do." She swiftly downed the rest of her lemonade and stood up. She turned Luffy around in his seat so that he was facing her. It was only now that Luffy noticed her clothes. She was wearing a bikini top and torn shorts. Looking past her, he could see Zoro pointing at him and laughing, Usopp and Franky doing the same. He didn't get what was going on, not until Nami leaned into his ear and whispered something.

"Your friends over there hired me to give you lap dance. So, how about it?" Now, Luffy wasn't stupid. He knew what a lap dance was. He guessed this was their idea of a joke. He groaned. He'd deal with it. He wouldn't give them the satisfaction.

"Fine," he muttered, glaring at Zoro, who stuck out his tongue at him in turn. He'd get him back for this later. He'd get him back good…

Nami hooked a finger under his chin and lifted his head so that their eyes met. She was smirking.

"Then let's have some fun."


	4. ShanksBenn: Lost in the Wilderness

_**As always, beta read by lunarshores :D**_

"Shanks, are you sure we're going the right way?" Benn asked. Shanks turned around to look at him and pouted.

"I swear, you have zero trust in me, Benn. Of course I'm sure! What kind of a question is that, anyway?" Benn huffed, but continued to follow him nevertheless. Shanks turned back to look at the map. It was old, and it was torn in some places, but he could still see what was on it, and he was certain that they were going the right way, despite Benn's doubts. Shanks would show him…

"Shanks, we've already been here…" Shanks stopped and turned around.

"Uh, no we haven't," he said. He didn't remember being anywhere _near_ a place like this, and he had good memory; he would remember. These trees were definitely more gnarled than any others he'd seen (and he'd seen a lot of trees so far), and the stones were much smoother than any they'd passed by today. Besides, the map told him that they weren't far from a nearby town. Just another mile or two, and they'd be there. Benn sighed. His eyes flitted over the surroundings, before stopping to rest to Shanks's right.

"Then please prove to me that those _aren't _your footprints." Shanks glanced down. Okay, fine. So maybe the footprints in the dirt _were_ a little similar to his own, and the pattern was the same as the one underneath his hiking boots, but _still._ That proved nothing.

"I guess someone else just has the same boots as me," he said, waving off Benn's groan.

"Shanks, just admit that we're lost," Benn pleaded, collapsing on the ground, uncaring of the dirt and mud below. Shanks looked around the small clearing again, studying the trees at the edge of it carefully. Alright, so maybe they _had _passed a clearing like this before, but… Now it was his turn to groan.

"Okay, okay already. We're lost." He fell back onto the grass and looked up at the little bits of blue sky that weren't concealed by the spread out branches of the nearby trees. "Happy?" Benn ignored the last part and instead took off his backpack.

"We should probably put up the tent. It's going to get dark soon. We'll figure out how to get out of this mess tomorrow." Shanks pouted again, but brightened up shortly after.

"Then let's throw a party!" he shouted jumping back up. Benn looked at him and raised an eyebrow. A passing breeze whipped his long hair around his face, and a few strands escaped his ponytail.

"With only the two of us?" he asked. Shanks shrugged, grinning at him. A party was a party- it didn't matter how many people were taking part in it. Hell, he'd thrown lots of parties for himself before.

Ah, but that had been when he'd been drunk. Then again, who said that they couldn't drink during their camping trip? He'd made sure to pack a few bottles of his favorite rum. Maybe just this once, he could share it. For the sake of the party, of course.

"Why not? Unless you have something better for us to do." Benn smirked at him. Damn, that made him look hot.

"And if I do?" he asked, leaning forward to kiss Shanks on the lips. Shanks sighed in bliss at the contact and moved closer to get more of it, but Benn pulled back. Shanks groaned.

"Uh-uh. Tent first." Shanks studied Benn for a moment, leaning forward in an attempt to catch Benn's lips in a kiss, but Benn moved back. For the third time that day, Shanks pouted.

"Fine…"


	5. SaNa: Met Over the Internet

_**Once again, beta read by lunarshores ^^**_

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><p>Sanji had spent a lot of time surfing the web (especially dating websites) over the recent years. He could spend <em>hours<em> admiring women's profile pictures. They were all so gorgeous that he always lost track of time.

That's how he met her. He'd started chatting with Nami a few weeks ago. He'd been over the moon when she'd first messaged him. After all, not many beautiful ladies decided that they wanted to talk to him, and Sanji didn't want to impose on anyone, either. Nami was amazing and beautiful and intelligent and… He could go on about her forever.

Today was a special day, though. A week ago, when it turned out that Nami didn't live that far away from him, they'd agreed to meet up. They'd only messaged each other before, with a few short Skype calls thrown in. Still, even those had occurred with the cameras off. Nami's voice was soft as silk, though, and today, he'd finally be able to hear it in person.

Sanji grabbed his coat and walked outside, locking the door to his house behind him. He unlocked his car, and got into the driver's seat, giddy with excitement. He was so excited! There were butterflies in his stomach furiously beating their wings, bringing about one wave of nervousness after another. He put the keys in the ignition, started the car, and started driving.

He soon found himself standing in front of the café they'd agreed to meet up in. He checked to see if it was the correct address, before taking a deep breath and walking in. He looked around. He didn't see Nami anywhere- and he most certainly _would_ recognize her if he saw her, despite only ever having seen a few photos of her- she was as beautiful as an angel! He quickly made his way over to a small table with two seats. He settled down and waited. At one point, a waiter came by and asked him if he wanted anything, but he'd brushed the man off by saying that he was waiting for someone.

He kept glancing at his watch nervously. Nami was late. He had to admit, he was a little bit worried. Maybe something had happened to his angel on her way to meet him? No… he couldn't bear the thought of that happening. Lost in his morbid thoughts, he didn't notice that someone sat down across from him until the person cleared their throat. Sanji looked up.

He was met with the sight of the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen in his life. Her orange hair fell in waves down to her waist, and her brown eyes smiled at him merrily. He almost forgot to breathe.

"H-hello," he stuttered. She smiled at him mischievously.

"Hello," she answered, leaning her head on her hand. Sanji found himself unable to tear his eyes away from her. He didn't want to miss a single flicker of the eyelid, a single mysterious smile.

They started talking. At first, the conversation was slightly awkward. He had no idea what to say so as not to insult Nami. Women needed a delicate approach. That was why he opted to listen instead of talk. Nami's voice was as gorgeous as she was. It was soft and kind, and Sanji could listen to it all day.

After over an hour of mostly one-sided conversation, Nami stood up, saying that she had to leave. Sanji followed, giving her a small hug and a kiss on the cheek. She promised to meet up with him again, soon. Sanji collapsed into his chair, letting his eyes follow her as she left the café.

Eventually, a waiter came by, and asked if Sanji wanted the bill. He nodded dreamily, still not tearing his eyes away from the door, through which Nami had disappeared. The waiter came back after about a minute and wordlessly handed Sanji the bill. Sanji reached into his jacket to pull out his wallet.

It wasn't there. His wallet was missing.


End file.
